Analy High School - Azalea Yearbook (Sebastopol, CA)

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dead any more than lie belongs in the mines of Sinai! How much a private grudge can do! ’ ’ “ Who bore the grudge ?” “Why, Sarenchis! Nebfah Sech, Anubi’s betrothed wife, was desirable in the eyes of Sarenchis for his son, whom he lias not seen for fifteen years. He wishes his son to marry well.” “But how could he hope to save her for one whom she had not seen?” “Why simply by removing the object of her affection. He wished his son to make a good impression when he arrived, and how is that possible when she h,as eyes for but one? lie- moving that one, are not her eyes free to wander again?’’ “You are right,” he muttered. With a parting kick at the prostrate figure, the dismount¬ ed horseman climbed back into his saddle, and both the Egyp¬ tians fled into the night. Relieved of his ( awful tensity of strain, Anubis arose, and unable to asuage his pain sufficient to induce sleep to cover him with her soft dark mantle, he ruminated upon all that had occurred. The Nile seemed near in his excitement. He could reach it in two days, Hathor will¬ ing. He stretched his hands toward the heavens and called upon Isis to aid him in his flight, and to give him strength in allies to make good his revenge. Slowly he dropped his hands, for he heard the swish swish of approaching horses, and voices growing louder in the night ,air. He strained his eyes, hut could not make out the images as yet, so he again stretched him. The moments he awaited the approach were infinitesimal. It was cold and the chill air blew his hair about his face. He scarcely d,ared to breathe, and he held his body rigid lest he should shiver. He grew faint and his head swam, but he ra- mained in the same attitude of death. The voices grew louder, the grinding of the sand beneath the horses’ hoofs grew more harsh and more ominous. The breathing of the horses became audible. Anubis w,as conscious of the fact that the horsemen had stopped before him. He listened eagerly to their conversa¬ tion and grew strangely animated as the talking went on. “You may look upon his tomb in the City of the Dead and see your own handiwork. Your own selfishness — oh, do not look so — has made you a murderer, not only of Anubis, but 15

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Anubis awoke. Stiffened by a sleep in the chill desert air, with no covering but a cloth about his loins, and by the cruel flogging he had received, he was unable to move, but lie lay watching the slowly silvering sun, wondering why he was so long alone. Finally it occurred to him that they had left him for dead, and that if he could escape, he might live for revenge. He raised himself upon his elbow and looked about for his huge pack. Then his gaze wandered to the distance, where he ex¬ pected to espy ,an overseer. Neither did he see. The shadows of the cliffs grew shorter, and the sun, now blazing, slowly pur¬ sued its course over the rugged mountains. A hot wind sprung up and rippled the sand. Anubis lay still propped upon bis elbow, with a glowing sense of freedom and rest creeping through his veins. After a long period of reflection, he rose to his feet, and began mentally to mark out his course. Rapid flight was im¬ possible because his feet were chained so as to allow only a moderate step. Therefore lie must walk, hiding when a fellow human appeared, and braving the grimness of hunger and thirst. He began slowly and painfully, for the cold desert air had chilled his wounds during the night, but his hopes were high and he m,ade the best of his afflictions. He journeyed all day in peace, but toward night a sensation of pain began to gnaw within him. He grew faint from his hunger, so he stretched out upon the still warm sand, and slept. Awakened by the sound of snorting horses, lie raised his eyes to heaven ,and listened intently. He heard the strange sound made by the hoofs of the horses in the loose sand, and voices carrying on a loud conversation. He lay still, hoping to lie unnoticed, for there was nothing about in which to conceal himself. But the bright moon threw his figure into sharp re¬ lief against the gleaming sand as the horsemen drew up. “By Isis,” exclaimed one, “I’d have sworn in the Holy of Holies that we left him five leagues nearer Sinai. He must have—but no, he is still shackled, and he is in the same position in which I left him. Sarenchis gave out some fine wine yester¬ day, but I didn’t think my senses had gone so far astray.” “He’s dead now ,anyway,” said the second, illustrating his statement with a kick at the blood-staned ribs of Anubis, who lay motionless, scarcely daring to breathe. “The wretched cur! He doesn’t belong in the city of the 14

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many fathers’ sons. Hotep h,as told me all he knows of the matter; he knew Anubis. You have slain him because of your private avarice. How much you must answer for. Let us lift him upon the saddle.” Slowly Sarenchis went to the prostrate figure, and bend¬ ing over him looked into Anubis’ face. The latter opened his eyes and scared at the older man. The quaking coward shrank away as from an apparition, but Anubis, springing to his feet, caught the sword from the old man’s belt, and plunged it deep into his breast. Slowly he drew it out, as with a relish, and heard the thud of the fallen body with a fiendish exhilaration He turned to the dazed figure beside him and held out the drip¬ ping sword with the air of one who has captured a prize. With a harsh, choked laugh he swung himself upon the riderless horse and rode away into the darkness. The soldier stood frozen with horror as he listened to the receding cl,ank and jingle of Anubis’ chains. “Oh, Holy Isis,” he cried, “my brother goes to seek his father whom he has not seen for fifteen years. How shall I tell him he has this night slain him with his own hands?”